Monday, August 27, 2012

HHS Seeks Comments on New Digital Strategy

To help "cut loose content, work better, and put people first," the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking comments on how it provides public health information on the web.

HHS' initiative is part of the federal government's new digital strategy, which aims to shift the way government information is accessed and consumed. Instead of focusing on simply producing a final product, which has been common practice for years, the government's strategy now will be to make content more accurate, available, and secure. This strategy aims to "open doors for communication and give everyone the opportunity to use government information in a more meaningful way."

Visitors to HHS' digital strategy webpage can post their thoughts and suggestions for next steps under 4 areas that can be accessed by the tabs located at the top of the page—people first, mobile, open data, and working better. Specific to "open data," HHS is interested in the types of datasets that should be added to healthdata.gov.

HHS will explain how the collective comments, along with the metrics it collects on user experience, influence the agency's work.